My Lost Brothers: The Untold Story by the Yarnell Hill Fire's Lone Survivor

Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when, for the sake of his young daughter, he decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona. Their leader, Eric Marsh, was in a desperate crunch after four hotshots left the unit, and, perhaps seeing a glimmer of promise in the skinny would-be recruit, he took a chance on the unlikely McDonough, and the chance paid off.

Blood, Sweat, Tears and Prayers: Firefighting and EMS from Some of the Toughest Streets in America

Gary Ludwig has been a firefighter/paramedic for 37 years and has worked in two of the most violent cities in the United States (St. Louis and Memphis) for 34 years of those years. He gathers his experiences in this field and presents an honest overview of his experiences with the emotions, feelings, sights, and gut-wrenching efforts men and women in this field experience to save a life or property. This is the insider look at a profession few of us fully appreciate: This book gains the profession the respect that is due.

On the Burning Edge: A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It

On June 28, 2013, a single bolt of lightning sparked an inferno that devoured more than 8,000 acres in Northern Arizona. Twenty elite firefighters - the Granite Mountain Hotshots - walked together into the blaze, tools in their hands and fire shelters on their hips. Only one of them walked out.

Lights and Sirens: The Education of a Paramedic

Nine months of tying tourniquets and pushing new medications, of IVs, chest compressions, and defibrillator shocks - that was Kevin Grange's initiation into emergency medicine when, at age 36, he enrolled in the "Harvard of paramedic schools": UCLA's Daniel Freeman paramedic program, long considered one of the best and most intense paramedic training programs in the world.

The Esperanza Fire: Arson, Murder and the Agony of Engine 57

The Esperanza Fire started October 26, 2006, in the San Jacinto Mountains above the Banning Pass near Cabazon, California. It destroyed 41,000 acres and dozens of homes and cost the taxpayers $16 million dollars. But by far the highest costs of the conflagration were the lives of the five-man crew of Engine 57, the first engine crew ever killed fighting a wildland blaze. Fire and superheated gases had erupted in a freak "area ignition," sending flames racing across three-quarters of a mile in mere seconds, engulfing the crew and the house they were defending.

3000 Degrees: The True Story of a Deadly Fire and the Men Who Fought It

On December 3, 1999, the call crackled in to the men of the Worchester, Massachusetts Fire Department: a three-alarm warehouse blaze in a six-story windowless colossus of brick and mortar. What happened next - and how their lives and community were changed forever - offers an unprecedented look at these heroic men whose job it is to rush into burning buildings when everyone else just wants out.

Fire Chief: The Story of a Volunteer Firefighter

A retired fire chief pens reflections on his life as a volunteer firefighter. Fire Chief by Ed Daniels shares experiences and sacrifices until now known only to the volunteers themselves. In his first novel, Fire Chief: The Story of a Volunteer Firefighter, author Ed Daniels recalls his life as a volunteer firefighter in the mountains of Colorado. Based on actual events, the book takes listeners into the heat that countless volunteer firefighters face every day throughout the world.

The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots

When a bolt of lightning ignited a hilltop in the sleepy town of Yarnell, Arizona, in June of 2013, setting off a blaze that would grow into one of the deadliest fires in American history, the 20 men who made up the Granite Mountain Hotshots sprang into action. An elite crew trained to combat the most challenging wildfires, the Granite Mountain Hotshots were a ragtag family crisscrossing the American West and wherever else the fires took them. The Hotshots were loyal to one another and dedicated to the tough job they had.

The Art of Effective Communication for the Fire Officer

In a world full of communication breakdowns - where nation fights against nation, neighbor fights against neighbor and so many are misunderstood - there is much to be learned from the communication challenges inherent in a fire station where egos run rampant. In no other context is it as urgent that communication work well than in firefighting. And there’s no better observer and expert on those lessons than Allan London, a firefighter with more than three decades of experience making communication decisions that save lives.

Killer Elite: Completely Revised and Updated: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Operations Team

A top-secret US Army Special Operations unit has been running covert missions all over the world, from leading death squads to the hideout of drug baron Pablo Escobar to capturing Saddam Hussein and, in one of the greatest special operations missions of all time, helping to track down al-Qa'eda leader Osama bin Laden. "The Activity," as it became known to insiders, has achieved near-mythical status, even among the world's Special Operations elite.

A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back

In the aftermath of 9/11, Kevin Hazzard felt that something was missing from his life - his days were too safe, too routine. A failed salesman turned local reporter, he wanted to test himself, see how he might respond to pressure and danger. He signed up for emergency medical training and became, at age 26, a newly minted EMT running calls in the worst sections of Atlanta. His life entered a different realm - one of blood, violence, and amazing grace.

Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British Battle Group Under Siege

April 2004: Dan Mills and his platoon of snipers flew into Southern Iraq, part of an infantry battalion sent to win hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives. Back home we were told they were peacekeeping. But there was no peace to keep. Because within days of arriving in theatre, Mills and his men were caught up in the longest, most sustained firefight British troops had faced for over 50 years.

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America

In The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan put the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl at the center of a rich history, told through characters he brought to indelible life. Now he performs the same alchemy with The Big Burn, the largest-ever forest fire in America, a tragedy that cemented Teddy Roosevelt's legacy.

Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout

In the tradition of Desert Solitaire and Shop Class as Soulcraft, this is a remarkable debut from a major new voice in American nonfiction—a meditation on nature and life, witnessed from the heights of one of the last fire-lookout towers in America.

The Dark Side: Real Life Accounts of an NHS Paramedic: The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly

Andy Thompson's true-to-life, graphic, and gripping account of his work as an NHS paramedic in Britain's Accident and Emergency Ambulance Service will shock you, sadden you, entertain you, and perhaps inspire you. You'll smile at some of Andy's real patient encounters, while others will cause you to wipe a tear.

Bogeys and Bandits: The Making of a Fighter Pilot

Americans are fascinated by the undeniable mystique of the elite world of Navy fighter pilots. In Bogeys and Bandits, Robert Gandt takes listeners on a thrilling ride in the FA-18 Hornet, one of the fastest, sleekest, and deadliest aircraft in the world. Gandt lived and worked with several pilots learning to fly the Hornet: the identical twins from Middle America; the computer nerd with a penchant for speed; the grandson of a Tuskegee Airman, trying to live up to a proud legacy; and two women dealing with the post-Tailhook world of the Navy.

Guts 'N Gunships: What It Was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam

In the summer of 1967, Mark Garrison had dropped out of college at Southern Illinois University just before entering his third year. He had run out of money and had to work for a while. These were the days before the lottery and the draft soon came calling. In order to somewhat control his own future, he enlisted in the US Army's helicopter flight school program. Little did he know that this adventure would be the most profound experience of his life.

Fire

For readers and viewers of The Perfect Storm, opening this long-awaited work by Sebastian Junger will be like stepping off the deck of the Andrea Gail and into the inferno of a fire burning out of control in the steep canyons of Idaho. Here is the same meticulous prose brought to bear on the inner workings of a terrifying elemental force; here is a cast of characters risking everything in an effort to bring that force under control.

Publisher's Summary

A rare inside look at the thrilling world of smokejumpers, the airborne firefighters who parachute into the most remote and rugged areas of the United States, confronting the growing threat of nature's blazes.

Forest and wildland fires are growing larger, more numerous, and deadlier every year - record drought conditions, decades of forestry mismanagement, and the increasing encroachment of residential housing into the wilderness have combined to create a powder keg that threatens millions of acres and thousands of lives every year. One select group of men and women are part of America's front-line defense: smokejumpers. The smokejumper program operates through both the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Though they are tremendously skilled, and only highly experienced and able wildland firefighters are accepted into the training program, being a smokejumper remains an art that can be learned only on the job. Forest fires often behave in unpredictable ways: spreading almost instantaneously, shooting downhill behind a stiff tailwind, or even flowing like a liquid.

In this extraordinarily rare memoir by an active-duty jumper, Jason Ramos takes listeners into his exhilarating and dangerous world, explores smokejumping's remarkable history, and explains why their services are more essential than ever before.

As an individual who spent eight years of his life working for the same agency (USFS) as Ramos, out of Southern California though, I can attest to the accuracy of this book. Doesn't get much more real than this. Excellent book.

Mr. Ramos takes us through pieces of his personal journey in firefighting. The book weighs toward relationships more than the art and science of firefighting. Nonetheless, a nicely paced and informative listen.

narration is excellent! As for the book, it started out strong, with a mix of life story, training and hands on events and a history of smoke jumping and some very damaging fires. Its well written. But at the end it morphed into an add for gear and the authors own company; plus some political opions, that I guess are to be expected from a biography. But I could have done without the ads for gear and the like.

I enjoyed this audio book. Ned Vaughn's voice is so well suited to this story that I kept forgetting he was just reading and not telling his own story. This is such an interesting memoir, full of drama, history, amazing and breathtaking accounts, all perfectly narrated.

Inspirational and informative! As a chaplain who has been honored to serve on several wildland conflags in the Pacific Northwest, I wanted to learn more about the firefighters I am privileged to serve on occasion. I learned much more about smokejumpers, and wildland firefighters in general, from this book than any class I have attended. Thank you Jason, for putting out the fires yet not forgetting to pass the torch.

After I listened to the first quarter of the book I bought a copy for my son to read. By the time I sent it to him I had finished the book. I thought it was still a good story but it bogs down in the middle with too many descriptions of fires. They all seem to run together. The parts where he talks about the physicality of the job and equipment are interesting. I would recommend it for someone who is interested in the subject.

The author includes in depth background of forest ecology, fire fighting strategy, up to date technique /equipment and insight into personal motivation for the individuals who take up this line of work. We are threatened by wild fires every summer, and this book added to my knowledge, even though I thought I knew it all. I didn't. A very good read.

Having been a hotshot and a smokejumper for two years I knew a lot of the people Jason talked about in this book including jumping with him out of my car I Meheula national course and spending more than one night with him in Silver city in the small Cantina all jumpers used to visit well done Jason one of the best fireplugs ever written Puning gearhead smokejumper and now famous author

Great storytelling as well as an interesting narrative on the history of Smokejumping. I would recommend this book to anyone who has the slightest bit of interest about smokejumping, wildland firefighting, the U.S. Forest Service or American history.